Confused about asterisk notation

[Brandon Olivares]

Hi,

I converted a midi to lilypond format, and am trying to make my way through
the notation.

One of the tracks starts with this:

s16*259 <a' b >16 <e' d >16 <a, b >16 s16 <a b >16 <e' d >16

I get that s16, I think, is pretty much equivalent to a 16th rest for that
voice? But what's s16*259? Is that a ridiculously short rest, or 259 16th
rests?

I'm thinking the former, but it's not making much sense.

Thanks,
Brandon